by Keith Kelley–26 Feb ’15
For just the second time this season, both in Mountain West play, the Wyoming Cowboy basketball team lost at home, as they were beaten by Fresno State 64-59 Wednesday night. The Bulldogs pushed the Pokes around all night, forcing 14 Wyoming turnovers, and Fresno’s Marvelle Harris was nearly unstoppable, as the Bulldogs won in Laramie for the first time since the mid ’90s.
Wyoming senior forward Larry Nance, Jr. was playing in his first game in four games, getting back from mononucleosis. Nance played in 37 minutes and produced nine points and pulled down eight rebounds. Nance says that Fresno State came out and was tougher for the Cowboys, and added that is uncharacteristic for this team, and won’t happen again.
As mentioned above, the Cowboys turned the ball over 14 times in the loss, and that lead to 17 points for Fresno State. The Bulldogs were all over the Cowboys defensively, and at times, could be considered chippy. It was a physical game throughout, with a double technical given at one time. Wyoming junior guard Josh Adams received one of those technical fouls, and says that Fresno State came out and played the way they wanted to.
The game was tied nine times and the lead changed hands nine times as well. The final lead change was late, with Wyoming up 54-52, Harris drilled a three-pointer to give Fresno State the lead for good. Harris finished with 23 points to lead all scorers. Wyoming head coach Larry Shyatt said that Harris was really good for the Bulldogs, and said it started early.
Still, the Cowboys had a shot, trailing by five, Adams hit a three to pull the Cowboys to within a bucket. Then a steal and a foul sent senior Charles Hankerson, Jr. to the line for two shots. He would miss both, and the Pokes got no closer.
Adams led Wyoming with 22 points, while senior guard Riley Grabau added 11. Wyoming held Fresno State to just 40 percent shooting, while the Cowboys were just 11-17 from the free throw line.
The Cowboys fall to 21-7 overall and 10-5 in the Mountain West. They are at UNLV Saturday evening.
